Research suggests that older people who sit or are inactive for more than 10 hours a day could be at increased risk of developing dementia.

The experts said that whether a person sits for a length of time at once or sits down for a total of 10 or more hours in a day, spreading it out, it doesn’t matter as both have a similar effect on dementia risk.

However, in their findings, published in the journal Jama, the team said that being inactive for less than 10 hours was not associated with an increased risk of developing the condition, providing “some reassurance to those of us with office jobs that involve prolonged periods of sitting”.

Older people who sit for more than 10 hours a day could be at increased risk of dementia

Study author Gene Alexander, professor of psychology and psychiatry at the Evelyn F McKnight Brain Institute at the University of Arizona and Arizona Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centre in the US, said: “We were surprised to find that the risk of dementia begins to rapidly increase after 10 hours spent sedentary each day, regardless of how the sedentary time was accumulated.

“This suggests that it is the total time spent sedentary that drove the relationship between sedentary behaviour and dementia risk, but importantly lower levels of sedentary behaviour, up to around 10 hours, were not associated with increased risk.”

County Times: Adults of working age average about 9.5 hours per day of sitting or being inactive, in England, according to the researchAdults of working age average about 9.5 hours per day of sitting or being inactive, in England, according to the research (Image: Getty Images)

Adults of working age average about 9.5 hours per day of sitting or being inactive, in England.

This includes watching TV, using a computer, reading, doing homework and travelling by car, bus or train, but sleeping is not included.

Average sedentary time in men and women between the ages of 65 and 74 increases to 10 hours per day or more, according to figures from the British Heart Foundation.

For the study, the researchers looked at data from more than 49,000 people aged 60 and above from the UK Biobank, an online database of medical and lifestyle records of half a million Britons.

At the start of the study these people didn’t have dementia and were followed for more than six years with individuals given devices to wear on their wrists to track movement.

Using a type of artificial intelligence known as machine-learning algorithms, the researchers classified different types of movement, including between sleeping and sitting still.

A total of 414 people developed dementia over the course of the study.

When adjusting for lifestyle factors that could affect brain health – such as diet, smoking and alcohol use and self-reported mental health – and demographics such as age, sex, education level, ethnicity, chronic conditions and genetics, the team found that prolonged lack of movement was linked with increased risk of dementia.

David Raichlen, professor of biological sciences and anthropology at the University of California’s Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, who is also a study author, said: “Many of us are familiar with the common advice to break up long periods of sitting by getting up every 30 minutes or so to stand or walk around.

“We wanted to see if those types of patterns are associated with dementia risk.

“We found that once you take into account the total time spent sedentary, the length of individual sedentary periods didn’t really matter.”

More research is needed to see if physical activity can reduce the risk of dementia, the authors said.

Meanwhile, another study, published in the journal Jama Network Open, has found untreated high blood pressure to be associated with greater dementia risk.

The research, which was an analysis of data from 14 different studies and involved more than 34,000 people aged 60 and above, showed that individuals with untreated high blood pressure had a 42% increased risk of dementia compared with healthy people and 26% increased risk compared with those who received treatment for the condition.

Dr Richard Oakley, associate director of research and innovation at Alzheimer’s Society, said: “Dementia affects 900,000 people in the UK and is the country’s biggest killer.

“We know some people are at greater risk than others due to factors such as their age, genes and lifestyle.

“This study showed that being inactive for more than 10 hours a day increases the risk of going on to develop dementia.

“As a rule of thumb, what’s good for the heart is good for the head, and taking care of your cardiovascular health could help reduce your risk of getting dementia in the future.

“Eating a balanced diet, avoiding smoking and heavy drinking, and exercising regularly can all help too.”